Traditional Italian Pizzelles

When my husband was younger he used to make these Italian wafer cookies, called pizzelles, with his mom and grandmother. He has fond memories of baking these and tells me that when he was little it was his special job to make the pizzelles in the iron, with the supervision of his grandma of course. These thin and delicate cookies are his favorite treat to make and as soon as the temperature drops, he begins the annual chant of, "pull out the pizzelle maker."

In fact, these are traditionally made around Christmas but they are perfect to add to any special occasion. We love adding these to our Christmas cookie boxes along with some of our other favorite sweet treats that we share with our friends and neighbors.

I found out in my pizzelle deep dive that these cookies were first made in the region of Abruzzo (central Italy) in the 8th century. The pizzelle irons used to have the family crest engraved in them so when you made your pizzelle they had your family name or symbol on them. Now, most irons will come with a geometric design or that of a flower or snowflake.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Yields: Approx. 25 cookies

Ingredients

• 6 medium eggs

• 1 cup sugar

• 1 cup melted butter

• 1 tsps vanilla

• 2 1/2 tsps anise

• 3 1/2 cups unbleached flour

• 4 tsps baking powder

Before you begin, preheat your pizzelle maker and melt 1 cup of butter.

In large glass mixing bowl, beat together 6 medium eggs and 1 cup sugar.

Add 1 cup of melted butter to the egg and sugar mixture.

Pour in 1 tsp vanilla extract and 2 1/2 tsps anise.

Thoroughly combine these ingredients with a hand beater or whisk. You could also create this batter in your stand mixer with the whisk attachment.

In a separate bowl combine 3 1/2 cups flour and 4 tsps baking powder.

Slowly add in the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.

Do you like my very bloggy looking action shot? :)

Our pizzelle batter is now complete and we can begin baking the cookies.

Drop one tablespoon on to the center of the iron, you could also use a small cookie scoop for this.

Press down and hold for about 1 minute. I like mine golden brown and crispy so I typically hold it down for a little longer than that. Remove from the pizzelle press with the help of a fork and place on a cooling rack.

Tip: The key to making sure that the pizzelles are crispy is to not stack them or place them in any container before they are cooled. The steam will inevitably make them soft.

Tip Two: Dust the pizzelles with a little powdered sugar before serving!

Did you make this recipe? If so I would love to see it, drop a picture in the comment or send it to me on social media, Facebook @HisGirlSunday or Instagram @steffani_hisgirlsunday.